If you haven’t had therapy before, it can be a daunting, unknown territory. You may feel like you need help, but not sure where to start, or what you are investing in - after all, it isn’t a cheap undertaking. There are many different approaches to psychotherapy, so this blog outlines what you can expect from therapy with my particular approach.
When you make contact to express your interest in therapy, I will offer an initial free online consultation to meet each other. The purpose of this session is to understand what brings you to therapy, your background, and any previous experience of therapy, and also to share a little about myself and my approach. After the call I will encourage you to take some time to think about whether I’m the right fit for you away from the call and allow you to contact me again if you feel you would like to work together. Please note this isn’t a therapy session in itself.
The first few sessions..
During the first few sessions we will scratch the surface of what brings you to therapy in more detail and in the context of your life, both past and present. These may be brought up again against different lenses over the course of therapy where relevant. We will also use this time to set some therapeutic goals together.
The direction of therapy is then dictated by what comes up for you in relation to your goals. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start, I will guide and prompt you, and as with any internal processes, this tends to come out in muddled, non-linear ways, jumping from one part to another, however each part is another important piece of the puzzle we create together.
The bulk of therapy..
A key tool of therapy is gaining an understanding of your processes. This means building an awareness of what drives your thoughts, feelings and actions in the moment that it's happening, what's happening on the surface, and what’s hidden beneath it out of awareness (called the explicit and implicit).
Working collaboratively, I ask for feedback frequently and encourage you to be able to share your true feelings towards the therapy or myself. Our process is just as important to your understanding and our ability to work together, nothing is off the table and will be met with non-defensiveness, respect and curiosity. Using the relationship between us is one way of helping you understand processes between how you relate to yourself and other people, in a way that can’t always be done in your daily life. In the space we create together, you will be able to share feelings you may wish you could with other people, and test out or build boundaries that may not feel possible in real life.
These are all transferable tools you can apply to your life. Being more familiar with the implicit enables you to be more purposeful in your actions from a deep awareness, and allows you to take more control of your life when sometimes it may feel like life ‘happens’ to you.
Therapy is only as effective as the comfort and trust you have in the process, and the relationship we build. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the process further, I would be more than happy to do so.